The Prophet's Mantle

The story of the prophet Elijah and the passing on of the prophet’s mantle to Elisha is not only exciting but speaks into our own time and the need for the prophetic voice and vision among us now as we struggle to live with integrity, faithfulness and hope in a chaotic and threatening world. 

You may like to read what I wrote about these texts three years ago.

Free to Grow in the Spirit

While there are many interesting and important topics touched upon in the readings for this week (Third Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 8 (13). 2 Kings 2:1-2,  6-14; Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20; Galatians 5:1, 13-25; and Luke:51-62.) I feel drawn to reflecting on the passing of the prophet’s mantle to another generation or the ongoing need for the work of the prophets.

When we think of prophets we usually think of the Old Testament prophets such as Elijah and Elisha who often had difficult if not bizarre lives and tasks to perform in order to remind, reprimand, stir up the people of Israel. We may admire them, occasionally take comfort from their more palatable words, but are usually quite relieved to not have known them personally! (See link below to an overview of the prophets we shall meet in the next few weeks by a colleague and to the link above to my previous work on Elijah and Elisha.) So we may not want to hear that we are called to be a prophetic people!?

Walter Brueggemann, who at age 92 has just passed over, helped us as a generation be challenged to consider the role of the prophets and prophecy in a broader and more immediate way and to consider the implications to each of us as persons of faith. He defined a prophet as “one who nourishes ‘a consciousness and perception alternative to that of the dominant culture.’ Prophets create that imagination first by critiquing the world that is opposed to God’s will and secondly by energizing God’s people to a new way of life and being.” (Brent A Strawn. See link below.) While not all individual people of faith are called to be prophets we are, I would argue, all of us collectively called to share in the prophetic imagination and the wisdom of the prophets and thereby to be prophetic in the way we live out of our faith in this disturbed and disturbing world.

As Chrystal McGowan expressed it recently: “Prophetic witness is not a relic of the past. Instead, it advocates for voices that are unheard ... God’s mission is to repair and restore all things – and we’re all invited to do that. There are no big or small roles in the work of aspiring to be light in the world.”

I believe that the challenge of Elisha receiving the prophet’s mantle is not only for those who experience a specific call to speak words of prophecy but that the call to following Jesus in the world is to follow an alternate culture which requires a capacity to critique what we see and experience in our mainstream world and a commitment to energize and be energized to live according to the kingdom of God’s values and priorities. Much of the time this will set us on a collision course with our neighbours and the powerful. We are not called to hate those who we think are not living according to the gospel but to be energized to love and serve. Or as Paul says we are set free in order to serve.

Richard Rohr in his recent book “The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage”, in describing some of the characteristics of a prophet, says that prophets can still love and respect those they do not agree with (just think of the non-violent action of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.)

I am reminded and challenged by the image of the prophet’s mantle that the church, the body of Christ in our time, is called to be prophetic by how we love – our God, one another, and our neighbour. Most of us who think about such things sometimes give in to despair and shame as we reflect on how poorly we live out our prophetic challenge. And yet at this time of the church year, when we are reflecting of how the frightened and huddled disciples of Easter morn became courageous apostles having been empowered by the spirit, we might take heart as we hear again the challenge of our calling and the need of our world.  The world might want heroes but what we really need are prophets to awaken us to the gift that lies within, having already been given to us, the gift of God’s love for all including our neighbours near and far.

Even so, come Lord Jesus the Christ, come awaken us to your prophetic call to live here on earth as we would in heaven.

This is my work based on all that I have heard, read and experienced. I am indebted to the wisdom of others. This week I am especially grateful to:

Chrystal McGowan https://cac.org/news/prophetic-witness-in-a-time-of-brokenness

Richard Rohr “The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage”, Convergent, New York, 2025

John T Squires for a helpful overview of the prophets we shall meet during this church season.

https://johntsquires.com/2022/07/11/pondering-the-prophets-during-pentecost-year-c/

Brent A Strawn “Walter Brueggemann’s Big Imagination and Even Bigger God”

https://christianitytoday.com/2025/06/walter-brueggmann-died-prophetic-imagination-poetry-big-god/